He goes by the term “beast mode” and Juan Pierre wasted no time reintroducing himself to the 3,000+ on hand at Roger Dean Stadium yesterday in the Marlins Spring Training 2013 debut against the Cardinals. “Beast Mode” hit a triple off of Jon Jay, sped around the bases in a blur, slid into 3B, and eventually would go on to score on a Giancarlo Stanton sac ground out.

Put it in a frame; that is Marlins baseball 2013.

The Marlins racked up 8 runs on 11 hits yesterday in 35 ABs but also had 9 K’s. Not bad for a tune up, but indicative that if the Marlins are going to win games this year, it will come from good pitching, even better defense, and solid contact moving runners around the basepaths.

The Marlins did get some power from Alfredo Silverio, who blasted a tower shot over the left field wall in the bottom of the 5th. Silverio was 1-4 with 2 K’s, but does show he has the potential to be a very strong player in this lineup someday. (Hopefully, not just another Abraham Nunez…)

Adeiny Hechavarria and Jake Marisnick did steal a base each. In fact, it was Hechavarria and JP that worked well together in the bottom of the 2nd as JP pushed a bunt over the charging 3B towards SS Pete Kozma, scoring Hech from third. Another example that if the Marlins are going to score runs, it is going to have to be smart baseball.

A successful debut for the Fish, even amid all of the Cardinals fans in attendance. Marlin fans were light, but those that did show up did not seem to display any real angst over the trades from this past offseason. Instead, eyes are focused towards the future, getting to know these new young players, and seeing if Redmond, a champion back with the Marlins in 2003, can bring back some of that old magic from that team. He will have his teammate, Juan Pierre, leading the charge.

About jonnylons

"Jonnylons" has been a life-long Marlins fan - which isn't hard since they've only been around in since '93 and he's been around a bit longer. He founded MarlinsNation.com in order to provide a voice to Marlins fans on the internet which he started when he was up in Tallahassee at Florida State and was stranded with no Marlins games on TV up in that market.